Our Genealogy Helper
Introduction ...
We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:
That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.
By learning about Thorndale (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.
As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Thorndale. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.
Neighboring Counties ...
When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.
For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the south.
So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived: their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the west contained birth and death records; the county to the south contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.
If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.
Thorndale is located in Chester County .
To see how the shape of Pennsylvania's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries .
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Chester County : New Castle (DE) , Cecil (MD) , Berks , Delaware , Lancaster & Montgomery .
Below are the counties that are near Thorndale. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Thorndale:
Chester County (The home county of Thorndale)
The following are listed by their distance from Thorndale, with the one closest to Thorndale listed first.
Downingtown (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
Caln (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
Caln is also located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caln Modena (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
Modena is also located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Modena Population from the 2020 Census: 528 people
Mortonville (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
Mortonville is also located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mortonville South Coatesville (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
South Coatesville is also located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Coatesville Population from the 2020 Census: 1,499 people
Ackworth (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
Ackworth is also located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ackworth Lyndell (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
Lyndell is also located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyndell Youngsburg (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
Youngsburg is also located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Youngsburg Coatesville (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
Cornog (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
Cornog is also located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornog Milford Mills (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
Milford Mills is also located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milford Mills Cedar Knoll (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
Cedar Knoll is also located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Knoll Allegheny County
Overbrook (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
Overbrook is located in Allegheny County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Overbrook Berks County
The following are listed by their distance from Thorndale, with the one closest to Thorndale listed first.
Joanna (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
Joanna is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joanna Kenneys (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
Kenneys is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenneys Morgantown (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
Geigertown (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
Geigertown is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Geigertown New Morgan (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
New Morgan is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Morgan Population from the 2020 Census: 76 people
Bally (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
Scarlets Mill (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
Scarlets Mill is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scarlets Mill Plowville (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
Plowville is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plowville Birdsboro (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
Monocacy (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
Monocacy is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monocacy Beckersville (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
Beckersville is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beckersville Amity Gardens (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
Amity Gardens is located in Berks County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amity Gardens Delaware County
The following are listed by their distance from Thorndale, with the one closest to Thorndale listed first.
Glen Mills (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
Edgemont (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
Edgemont is located in Delaware County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgemont Chester Heights (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
Lima (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
Lima is located in Delaware County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lima Glen Riddle (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
Glen Riddle is located in Delaware County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Riddle Aston Mills (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
Aston Mills is located in Delaware County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aston Mills Chelsea (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
Chelsea is located in Delaware County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chelsea Garnet Valley (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
Rockdale (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
Rockdale is located in Delaware County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockdale Zebleys Corner (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
Zebleys Corner is located in Delaware County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zebleys Corner Elwyn (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
Elwyn is located in Delaware County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elwyn Creekside Village at Naamans (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
Indiana County
Ernest (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
Ernest is located in Indiana County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ernest Population from the 2020 Census: 431 people
Lancaster County
The following are listed by their distance from Thorndale, with the one closest to Thorndale listed first.
Christiana (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
Beartown (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
Beartown is located in Lancaster County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beartown Gap (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
Meadville (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
Meadville is located in Lancaster County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadville Churchtown (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
Buyerstown (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
Buyerstown is located in Lancaster County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buyerstown Kinzers (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
Ninepoints (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
Ninepoints is located in Lancaster County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ninepoints Smyrna (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
Smyrna is located in Lancaster County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smyrna East Earl (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
Blue Ball (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
Intercourse (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
Montgomery County
The following are listed by their distance from Thorndale, with the one closest to Thorndale listed first.
Mingo (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
Mingo is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mingo Port Providence (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
Port Providence is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Providence Bramcote (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
Bramcote is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bramcote Royersford (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
Pottstown (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
Stowe (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
West Pottsgrove (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
West Pottsgrove is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Pottsgrove Colonial Village (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
Colonial Village is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colonial Village King - of - Prussia (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
Audubon (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
Sanatoga (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
Brandywine Village (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
Brandywine Village is located in Montgomery County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandywine Village Philadelphia County
The following are listed by their distance from Thorndale, with the one closest to Thorndale listed first.
Manayunk (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
Manayunk is located in Philadelphia County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manayunk Roxborough (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
Roxborough is located in Philadelphia County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roxborough Bartram Village (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
Bartram Village is located in Philadelphia County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bartram Village Chestnut Hill (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
Chestnut Hill is located in Philadelphia County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hill Highland (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
Highland is located in Philadelphia County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Allen Lane (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
Allen Lane is located in Philadelphia County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allen Lane University City (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
University City is located in Philadelphia County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University City Upsal (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
Upsal is located in Philadelphia County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Upsal Germantown (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
Germantown is located in Philadelphia County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Germantown Philadelphia (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
Southwest Center City (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
Southwest Center City is located in Philadelphia County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southwest Center City New Castle County (DE)
The following are listed by their distance from Thorndale, with the one closest to Thorndale listed first.
Yorklyn (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
Centreville (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
Ashland (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
Ashland is located in New Castle County (DE) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashland Hockessin (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
Mount Cuba (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
Mount Cuba is located in New Castle County (DE) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Cuba Southwood (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
Southwood is located in New Castle County (DE) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southwood Vintage Village (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
Vintage Village is located in New Castle County (DE) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vintage Village Cokesbury Village (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
Cokesbury Village is located in New Castle County (DE) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cokesbury Village York Towne (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
York Towne is located in New Castle County (DE) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for York Towne Winterthur (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
Mendenhall Village (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
Mendenhall Village is located in New Castle County (DE) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mendenhall Village Greenville (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
Cecil County (MD)
The following are listed by their distance from Thorndale, with the one closest to Thorndale listed first.
Appleton (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
Appleton is located in Cecil County (MD) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appleton Old Line Village of Fair Hill (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
Fair Hill (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
Fair Hill is located in Cecil County (MD) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Hill Blake (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
Blake is located in Cecil County (MD) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blake Andora (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
Andora is located in Cecil County (MD) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Andora Barksdale (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
Barksdale is located in Cecil County (MD) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barksdale Blue Ball Village (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
Blue Ball Village is located in Cecil County (MD) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Ball Village Bank ‑ Historic(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
Bank was located in Cecil County (MD) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bank Cherry Hill (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
Cherry Hill is located in Cecil County (MD) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Hill Elk Mills (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
West Creek Village (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
West Creek Village is located in Cecil County (MD) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Creek Village Calvert (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
Calvert is located in Cecil County (MD) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calvert Gloucester County (NJ)
The following are listed by their distance from Thorndale, with the one closest to Thorndale listed first.
Bridgeport (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
Bridgeport is located in Gloucester County (NJ) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeport Cooper (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
Cooper is located in Gloucester County (NJ) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooper Beckett (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
Beckett is located in Gloucester County (NJ) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beckett Gibbstown (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
Gibbstown is located in Gloucester County (NJ) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibbstown Mickleton (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
Mickleton is located in Gloucester County (NJ) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mickleton Salem County (NJ)
The following are listed by their distance from Thorndale, with the one closest to Thorndale listed first.
Carneys Point (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
Carneys Point is located in Salem County (NJ) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carneys Point Pennsville (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
Pennsville is located in Salem County (NJ) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennsville Auburn (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
Auburn is located in Salem County (NJ) Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Auburn
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Thorndale, see our County-by-County Page for Thorndale .
Cemeteries Near Thorndale ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Thorndale.
This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know . If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.
Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Thorndale - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Thorndale covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Thorndale, with the one closest to Thorndale listed first.
St. Joseph Cemetery (Less than 2 miles to the east)
Fairview Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
Doe Run Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doe Run Cemetery To give a relative sense of its location, the Doe Run Cemetery is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<2> Coatesville . The Doe Run Cemetery has also been known as:
Doe Run Presbyterian Church Cemetery Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2244008 <3>
St. Cecilia Cemetery (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
Marshallton UMC Cemetery (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
Fallowfield Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
Grove Methodist Church Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
Beth Israel Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
Polish Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
Ukrainian Cemetery (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
Oaklands Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
Oakland Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
Continue List (396 more) ...
Oakland Friends Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland Friends Cemetery The Oakland Friends Cemetery is located outside and to the northwest of West Chester . The Oakland Friends Cemetery has also been known as:
Oakland Friends Burial Ground West Chester Orthodox Friends Cemetery Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2150516 <3>
St. Agnes Cemetery (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
Chestnut Grove Cemetery Annex (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Grove Cemetery Annex The Chestnut Grove Cemetery Annex is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northwest of West Chester . The Chestnut Grove Cemetery Annex has also been known as:
Chestnut Grove Annex Cemetery Oaklands Cemetery Annex Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #44579 <3>
Nearby Communities in 1895 ...
We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<4>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Thorndale had railroad service and no post office.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Thorndale, with the one closest to Thorndale listed first.
Gallagherville (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
Gallagherville is also located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gallagherville Romansville (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
Romansville is also located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Romansville Guthriesville (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
Guthriesville is also located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guthriesville Downingtown (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
Caln (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
Caln is also located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caln Modena (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
Modena is also located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Modena Population from the 2020 Census: 528 people
Mortonville (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
Mortonville is also located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mortonville Woodbine (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
Woodbine is also located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodbine Dowlin (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
Dowlin is also located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dowlin Laurel (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
Laurel is also located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Embreeville (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
Embreeville is also located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Embreeville Glenhall (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
Glenhall is also located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenhall Continue List (18 more) ...
Marshallton (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
Marshallton is also located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshallton Ackworth (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
Ackworth is also located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ackworth Lyndell (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
Lyndell is also located in Chester County Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyndell
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Thorndale. See our List of 1890's Communities around Thorndale .
Newspapers Published in Thorndale ...
An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) .
To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.
Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 53 newspapers that have been published in the area around Thorndale.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Thorndale, there are papers which were published within 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> Extended Newspaper List for Thorndale.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful websites offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.
To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Thorndale:
Websites specific to Pennsylvania Pages specific to Chester County Genealogy information for nearby counties
Allegheny County Berks County Delaware County Indiana County Lancaster County Montgomery County Philadelphia County New Castle County Cecil County Gloucester County Salem County Cemetery Information and Directories for Pennsylvania Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Thorndale. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page .
The official website for Chester County: https://www.chesco.org/
The official website for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/
Footnotes ...
<1> While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Thorndale) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com . We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Thorndale, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.